Bittersweet
by David Shigure
Summary: A bitter introduction paved the way for something beautiful to begin. But now they were both far from home, and they need each other to survive. A change of events for FFX, how does this change affect Spira?
1. Being Rescued by a Girl

My first FFX fic xD A Tikku, and one I've been dying to write for a while. I'll get back to the others, promise! But I just had to get this one out there. Enjoy!

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><p>Bittersweet<p>

Chapter 1: Being Rescued by a Girl

The fire had finally begun to die out. Sleeping soundly next to it, Tidus was dreaming about a warm bed, a nice log fire and possibly some gorgeous girl keeping him warm. Even in his dreams, he was freezing.  
>He suddenly jerked awake, his body unable to sleep any longer in the sheer cold surrounding him. That was when he noticed his small, pitiful fire was pretty much all but extinguished.<p>

"Hey, wait! Wait! Don't go out on me!" He desperately tried to resuscitate the dying fire by blowing on it. But it didn't really help much.

"Gahh... Just hold on! I'll go get some more wood!" As he stood up to find anything flammable he could throw on the fire, he suddenly realised he wasn't alone. He could sense it, like as though there was something watching him.

Suddenly, he spotted it. A creature near the ceiling, it's eyes glowing at him, with an almost hungry look in them. It had four, spider-like legs, and a long, thin tail, with a protruding head that was glaring at him. It started to run, circling the domed ceiling. He followed it round, making sure not to dizzy himself trying to keep up with its pace.

The creature stopped it's run, suddenly jumping from the wall onto the ground about a metre away from him. Pulling out his sword, Tidus growled angrily. Sod the fire, this would warm him up nicely.

The creature swiped at him. Now that it was closer, Tidus could see that it had sharp talon-like extensions which it used as support. They looked sharp, so if he mistimed a dodge or a block, his head would start to roll.  
>A block from another talon, dodging another, countering with a well aimed slash, only to be blocked by the monster. It was a stalemate, trading blows until one of them ran out of steam.<p>

Then suddenly, the door behind him exploded in a flash of violent light. The fight stopped momentarily as the shockwave knocked his senses off balance. Through the light, he could see a bunch of armed men wearing goggles. In the centre of the men was a smaller, slightly more petite frame he guessed could be a girl. She had blond hair, tied up in a ponytail that spread the hair from the crown of her head forward towards the fringe. He couldn't make out any other details though, as her face was hidden by goggles and a face guard. She didn't seem to be armed, only wearing a knuckleduster-type weapon with claws on it. Nodding towards him, the girl walked over to him and stood next to him, taking up a fighting stance.

"You on my side? Cool." He turned back to the monster, who seemed to have recovered. He noticed that the other men didn't seem to be helping them, that it was just the two of them up against the big, scary monster. Turning his head slightly, he saw the girl pulling out what looked like a grenade from her belt.

"...hell?" It was all he could say before another explosion rocked the hall they were in. How many girls carry grenades around like that?

As she was pulling out another one, Tidus turned around to the monster. It was wobbling around, making a strange, high-pitched wailing sound. It looked like this fight wouldn't last much longer.

He was definitely not in Zanarkand anymore. The girls in Zanarkand didn't carry around grenades, and monsters the size of small airships didn't attack you. Well, not at least till the last few moments he was in Zanarkand, when it got attacked.

As a second explosion illuminated the grimy walls of the hall, he watched as he saw the girl speed up to the monster, swiping a strange material from it.. Jumping back to her position, she nodded at him as it to say it was his turn to take over. Turning back to the monster, he started running towards it. Somersaulting forwards, he built up momentum with a series of forward somersaults, before finally bringing down his sword with almighty force, slicing right through the body of the weakened monster. Split in half, the monster slowly evaporated away into a small cloud of rainbow-coloured pyreflies.

"And that ones called 'Spiral Cut'." He said with a grin to no one in particular. Looking at the girl, he watched as she pulled off her goggles. Bright green eyes were suddenly revealed, albeit with a spiral in the middle. He didn't know what kind of a world he was in, but the one he came from, the people normally had a circular iris, right?

Putting it aside for a moment, he squatted down to catch his breath.

"Whew... That was close." He heaved a sigh of relief. He might actually have a hope of surviving in this strange, cruel world he had ended up in. However, the hope was crushed moments later, when the men with the goggles accompanying the girl suddenly surrounded him. One of the goons pulled him into a standing position by his hair.

"Hey, lemme go!" He struggled against the grip, but it was useless. Plus, it really hurt on the hair, and the guns staring down at him were telling him to shut up.

"Fryd ec drec?" A guy wearing a blue balaclava and strange goggles like the rest of them spoke in a strange language he had never heard of before. Another guy with bright yellow hair behind Tidus nodded and hoisted his weapon a little higher. "Y veaht! Eh risyh teckieca!"

"Oac! Ed ec cu!" He couldn't understand anything they were saying. And he was seriously starting to freak out. He didn't want to have come all this way to be shot and left to die in this cold, horrible place. He suddenly felt a knife being pushed against his throat. The blade was painful against his skin, and it was beginning to draw some blood.

"Fa gemm ed?" The guy holding the knife sounded like he asked a question.

"Fyed!" The girl had finally spoken up. She sounded not much older than her mid-teens. "Fryd ev ed ec risyh?"

"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." The blade was suddenly pointing at the girl, as if to emphasize a point. He was relieved that the blade was no longer on his throat. His heartbeat lowered from 'freaking out' pace, to the slightly less painful 'pretty damn worried' pace. The girl stood firm, even with a blade being pointed at her.

"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic." At the girls words, the grip on him was released. Suddenly, he found himself being embraced by the girl. The strong smell of machina oil and flowery shampoo suddenly hit his nose, and it smelt nice. He was about to return the embrace, silently praising his luck, when he heard the girl say something softly into his ear.

"Cunno."

It wasn't a very strong punch by any means. But getting hit from that close, right in the solar plexus would be a one hit KO for anyone. As he crumpled to the floor, he saw the girl look at him sorrowfully, before turning tail and walking out of the destroyed entrance. A few of her goons followed her, and a few stayed behind, standing in front of him. As he slowly let the darkness fill his vision, his last conscious thought was enough to make him smile.

"_She smelled pretty awesome..."_

_~Salvage Ship~_

He could hear the sea. And through his closed eyelids, he could vaguely tell there was a bright light somewhere above him. Maybe he was back in Zanarkand?  
>With that thought in mind, he gently opened his eyes.<p>

Above him was some sort of halogen light tower, with searchlights moving constantly. Slightly below that was an entrance way. Looking around a bit more, he realised that he was on a ship of some kind, in the middle of the ocean.

Zanarkand was nowhere in sight.

He noticed there were two more of the goggled goons standing guard around him. Sitting up, he shook his head a little. Five seconds later he was back on the ground again, one of the guards hitting him with the butt of their rifle.

"Ced, lybdeja!"

"Hey, that hurts!" Tidus growled at them. But it was useless, they couldn't understand a word he was saying. One of the goons turned his gun on him.

"Hu sujehk, rayn?" The goon said firmly in his strange language. Getting the point, Tidus gave in, not wanting to get shot.

"Woah... Okay." He mumbled, trying to sound like he was cooperating. He didn't want to make them mad. Behind the guard with the gun, the entrance suddenly opened up with a mechanical heave. Behind it was another goggled goon, this time with a small, blond Mohawk and crazy tattoos all over his body. He looked positively wild. And behind him was the girl who'd punched him out earlier.

The guards closest to him bowed respectfully. Tidus glared at the girl who had punched him, but she just looked at him with a strange curiosity. The blond Mohawk goon lifted up a hand lazily.

"Caynir res."

The girl walked behind Tidus, and pulled him to his feet. Acting rebellious, he tried to act as though he didn't care. He wasn't really in the mood to be bossed around, so he glared at the blond Mohawk guy, who he assumed must be the boss of the outfit. As he watched the boss, the guy started making strange gestures. First, pointing at Tidus. Then he looked as though he was trying to mimic a dive into the ocean. Then a slightly pathetic looking doggy paddle of a swim, and finishing off looking as though he was trying to type on some sort of keypad.

"Right, whatever." Tidus said, not really caring what the guy was trying to tell him. His bad mood was slowly getting worse. He was pretty hungry, his abdomen still hurt like hell from when the idiot behind had punched him, and now he was watching a wild-looking mime trying to communicate with him, badly. If he wasn't so annoyed, he might actually start to laugh from the crazy situation he was in.

"_The hell did I get into this mess?" _He thought despondently.

"Tu oui hud cbayg?" The boss sounded slightly exasperated as he reached into his pocket for something. Tidus flinched slightly, expecting some sort of weapon. But instead, he pulled out a pair of goggles. Repeating his same weird gesture again, but with an added few gestures for putting on the goggles and then diving into the water, Tidus finally lost his patience with the clown act.

"I said I don't understand..." He said angrily. It was a bad move though, as suddenly a gun was cocked and pointed at his chest, this time with a slightly intimidating looking bayonet attachment. The dude holding it shook his head.

"Ehcumahia!"

"Fyed!" The girl behind him came to his rescue again. He assumed 'Fyed!' meant something like 'Wait!'. But the meaning of the strange word was driven out of his mind when the girl suddenly started speaking to him directly, in his own language.

"He said you can stay if you make yourself useful." Turning around faster then he thought possible, he stared at the girl.

"You... You understand me!" A notable amount of relief crept into his voice. He had been convinced he was in a world where the humanoid looking people spoke their own language, and he was trapped with nobody to talk to. All the anger he had felt towards her up until this point instantly vanished. The moment was ruined though by one of the goggled guards elbowing him in the back of the head. He was starting to get real sick of that.

"All right... I'll work!" He sounded pretty pissed off, and he didn't normally get this mad outside of a Blitzball arena.

A little while later, as the crew were getting ready to make what looked like a dive underneath the ship, the girl explained the oncoming situation to him.

"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it, and then we should be able to... salvage the big prize!" She sounded pretty cheerful, although it was slightly lost on the sulking Tidus. He grunted in agreement, with his arms folded.

"Okay, lets get to work!"

"Roger." He tried to sound a little motivated, so as not to get beaten up again. He took a light run towards the railing of the ship, and jumped on it with one leg. Turning around mid-jump to give the thumbs up to the girl, he turned around again to show them how diving was done by a Blitzball pro from the Zanarkand Abes.

Moments later, he felt the water rush behind him as the girl jumped in too. A few more of the goggle-guards jumped in after her. Opening his eyes underwater, he could see soft red emergency lights dotted slightly ahead of him. Holding in his breath like he had been trained to do at Blitzball, he began swimming towards the lights. He was actually sort of curious as to what were in the ruins they were after.


	2. Tragedy and a Heartfelt Bond

'Bittersweet'

Chapter 2: Tragedy and a Heartfelt Bond

The sea was cold. He'd spent more time freezing his butt off in the last twenty four hours then he could ever remember doing in his life. The faintly glowing red lights at the bottom of the seabed were attracting his natural sense of curiosity, which was one of the only reasons he hadn't given up on this stupid salvage mission. That and the girl slowly following behind him. He still didn't know her name, but he couldn't deny that she was cute beyond belief. He always did have a soft spot for the cute ones.

As they came closer to the seabed, Tidus could make out a sort of underwater labyrinth of corridors and chambers. One of the corridors covered with a hexagonal mesh had been torn open slightly, probably by some sort of animal. It was just wide enough to let the two of them float gently inside. They were met with strange machinery, and surprisingly enough, a functioning computer. He was amazed the thing worked at all at this depth, but there it was, sparkling at him.

He was even more surprised when the computer had been set in his own language. He had assumed that because the guys on the ship had been speaking their own language, it would've been set in whatever that language was. He guessed it wasn't impossible, seeing as that girl had also been able to speak to him. Looking over the display, he assumed it to be a touch screen, so he lightly punched in the commands to open the big steel-like door that currently prevented them from moving any further. With a resounding grinding noise, the door heaved itself open. It sounded like it hadn't been used in a long time.

Swimming through the entrance, Tidus and the girl passed a few more corridors and a hallway with what looked like some sort of electrical current generator in the middle. Their destination was just beyond that hallway, with another computer display. A few more punched in commands later, and making sure he hadn't broken the computer, they returned the way they came.

It was strangely eerie, but there wasn't anyway he was going to be able to strike a conversation underwater with his strangely clad companion. They moved on slowly, beating away the occasional group of piranhas who seemed excited at the snack that had fallen into their home.

It had been easy enough getting inside, but now Tidus was beginning to feel the strain on his lungs. His blitzball training gave him the endurance to stay underwater for a considerable amount of time, and considering your average blitzball game was five minutes long with a break in the middle if you needed a breather, he could last a while longer.

Returning into the hall with the generator, they both noticed the electric current now flowing through the room, with all the gadgets and displays lighting up the room around them. The eerie feeling he had suddenly vanished. The hum of the technology around him was strangely relaxing.

He suddenly noticed the girl waving franctically at him. Looking over at the direction she was indicating, he was surprised at the giant octupus like monster that came speeding out of one of the hallways. Swimming around as fast as he could so he was next to the girl, he pulled out his sword. The monster looked a lot more hungry then the piranhas, and he'd be damned if he was going to become a meal in this place.

Tidus swam fast, slicing at one of the monster's tentacles. He watched as the limb fell off gently, leaving behind a trail of blood.

"Better get outta here fast before that attracts more ghastlies..." He thought quickly. Looking over at the girl, he was strangely amused to see her pulling out three grenades at once. He suddenly wondered what a grenade would sound like underwater. Five seconds later, he found out as everyone in the room was thrown backwards from the explosion.

Glaring at the girl, Tidus turned back to the monster, hoping that at the very least it had finished the beast off. Surpisingly, having taken the full brunt of the impact, it was still alive, barely. It struggled to pull itself out of the crater in the wall it had made when it landed. The battle was over, and to put it out of it's misery, he swam up to the creature and quickly pierced it's giant head. A multicoloured show of lights appeared as the creature exploded into a frenzy of pyreflies, slowly fading away.

Swimming as fast as they could out of the structure, Tidus was in incredible need for oxygen. But he couldn't resist looking back when they were halfway to the surface. The giant spotlights had turned on, sweeping the ocean floor. They had found what they had been looking for.

Tucked between two ocean rock formations, a giant airship wreck was gently sleeping in the sand. Tidus could make out the rear and oddly designed propeller, as well as some of the washed out colours. It looked like it had promise as a salvage ship, but he wondered what were they going to do with it.

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><p>The first breath of fresh air as he broke the surface of the water was pure bliss. Just like after every game of blitzball, the first breath was the true reward after the struggle within the game. Tidus slowly made his way over to the side of the ship, climbing back on board.<p>

As soon as everyone else had made it back on board, the group began to walk over to the ships internal entrance. He assumed that he had to follow them in, but was forcefully pushed out by another of the guards, who muttered something in his strange language.

"Hey! I helped out, didn't I?" He kicked the door in frustration. He didn't know what the hell was going on, and he was beginning to lose all patience with the rest of the crew. Moving over to one of the cargo boxes, he sat down, contemplating ways he could get off this stupid ship and find some sort of dry land. His stomach growled hungrily, and he considered jumping back into the sea to catch a piranha.

Before he seriously considered jumping in, the door opened again. The girl walked out again, this time having completely removed her headgear. Her beautiful hair meshed perfectly with her face. The bright green spirally eyes sparkled in the reflected light from the spotlights hitting the ocean. He was momentarily entranced, not even noticing that she brought him some dinner.

"You gonna eat, or am I gonna have to spoonfeed you?" She smiled at him as he suddenly jerked out of his stupor. His stomach leaped for joy when he saw the food in front of him.

"Sweet!" Digging right in, he didn't have time to thank the girl. It didn't take him long before he was choking, and once again the girl saved him from a horrific death, providing him water to force it down his throat.

"That's twice now you saved me." He hit his chest a few times to encourage the food to get down a bit more. "Thanks, and for the food too."

"You're welcome." She was staring at him, like a child fascinated with something new to them. "What's your name?"

"I'm Tidus. What's yours?"

"Rikku." She let the word slide off her tongue easily. He really appreciated the fact that she could speak to him. He would've gone absolutely crazy if there hadn't been anyone else in the world he was in to talk to. She was amazingly cute too, which was always a bonus to him.

"How did you end up in that temple?" An edge of curiosity was in her voice. Her eyes spoke of a very slight suspicion, as though she thought he had been up to no good. "The island that temple is on is miles away from anywhere, how the hell did you get to it?"

So he told her the whole story. The attack in the midst of a blitzball game, the giant monster known as 'Sin', and how he woke up just outside that strange temple, not knowing anything about where he was. Her eyes jumped a little when I mentioned Zanarkand, but she didn't say anything and let him continue. When the story was finished, she looked thoughtful and a little bit confused.

"I'm not saying I don't believe you." She said after a little while. "Strange stuff like this happens all the time in Spira, and Sin in a major threat here too. But..." She looked at him with worry in her eyes. "I don't know how to say this gently but Zanarkand was destroyed, one thousand years ago."

He had to stifle a laugh. A thousand years ago? It happened literally not even a day ago. And sure, Sin created a major impact in the city, but the Zanarkand Army would beat the ever-loving crap out of the monster and then the city would rebuild fast, like he knew it would.

But he could tell she was speaking the truth, which scared him.

"W-what do you mean, destroyed?" Fear crept into his voice as he looked at her, terror spreading into his expression. "And a thousand years ago!?"

"There's nothing left but ruins now. One day, we'll be able to take you there and show you what's left, but for now you're going to have to believe me. Zanarkand is dead." She said sadly.

He was in complete shock. His friends, his mother, the blitzball stadium. Zanarkand was dead, and so where they, and apparently a thousand years in the past. His throat instantly locked up, his eyes stinging like mad.

"Are you... okay?" Rikku looked at him, a cross between worry and sympathy etched into her face. He nodded, opening his mouth. No sound came out, but he wanted to talk, to say he was okay. He wanted to scream to the heavens, cursing his fate and the fate of the loved ones he'd left behind. He wanted to reassure Rikku, and tell her it was cool. He wanted to punch something, vent his rage out.

He closed his eyes, trying to hold it in. Ever since he was a child, he'd been a notorious crybaby. He'd promised himself when his father left, he wouldn't cry anymore. He had to be strong, to protect his mother who'd been left behind. But now, his mother was dead. There was no one important to him left behind anymore. He was alone.

Suddenly, he felt Rikku put her arms around his neck, bringing his face into her chest. Nestling her head on top of his, she gently rubbed his back. She smiled sadly.

"I understand it now." She held him tighter. Her grip was comforting, and it was slowly breaking down the emotional dam that was holding back his tears.

"You can cry, if you want." With his head in her arms, he shook it gently. All the while, with his throat burning and his eyes gently beginning to moisten.

"It's okay. I'm here for you. You're not alone. I'll look after you, I promise." Her words were strong. They reassured him. They allowed him to let go of his control. He could feel himself beginning to give in.

"Let it all out. You feel better afterwards." And like that, the tears began to fall. They started slowly, as he tried vainly to fight against them. He just couldn't. Images of his home, his friends and his mother were flashing through his mind. Surpisingly, even his father came to mind as he remembered everything about Zanarkand. His hated father, who disappeared ten years ago.

He was tearing up inside, and was surprised when he felt warmth on the top of his head, trickling down to the back of his neck.

Rikku was crying too. Silently crying. He didn't know why, but he wasn't alone. They were both crying, on the middle of a dark, dingy ship, in the middle of the ocean. He felt incredibly lonely, yet comforted. He didn't want to move, and so they stayed together like that, crying gently into each other.

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><p>From the inside, looking out of one of the ships portholes, Brother looked at the scene. Feeling a sense of guilt, he watched the two as they sobbed into each other. He knew exactly why Rikku was crying, and he guessed that is wasn't too different from the guy's reason either. Turning away, he ordered his men to prepare another bed.<br>He wasn't going to let the poor guy sit outside and freeze, especially since it seemed he was going through hell right now. 

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><p>It's been a while. Yes, I've been really busy, but I'm slowly working on these stories. You may have noticed that this is where the chapters are starting to differ from the original Final Fantasy X story. It's hard trying to keep to the story without making it sound like the original story, so here's where I start taking the plunge. Hope you enjoyed it and please review for the constructive criticism and a happy author :D<p> 


	3. Corrupting the Innocent

Some of you may have noticed that I'm not putting any translations for Al Bhed in. Oh yes, I am translating them, using this nifty little app I got for the iPhone. However, I'm trying to keep the reader in Tidus's shoes. Stuck in a foreign place, not knowing how to speak the local lingo, that feeling of isolation you get, just like when you're in another country on holiday, and don't know how to speak the native language there. So apologies if that upsets some readers, but it's a necessary component of the plot.

If it irritates to the point of pulling teeth, you could always google an Al Bhed translator, or dare I say, learn Al Bhed yourself :P

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><p>'Bittersweet'<p>

Chapter 3: Corrupting the Innocent

"Kad eh." Brother nodded towards the door of the ship. Quickly drying her eyes, Rikku looked confused.

"Kad eh. Duhekrd ec lumt. E tuh'd fyhd res du tea." A sliver of compassion ran through Brother's face before quickly disappearing again. Dragging Tidus to his feet, she quickly manoeuvred him towards the door, a look of complete shock on her face. As they walked past the towering man, Brother quickly grabbed Tidus's shoulder. Looking up at him slightly fearfully, he was surprised when Brother smiled at him.

"T-thank...you..." He had tried hard to get it out, but it definitely sounded like he had just thanked Tidus. Staring at him, Tidus just about managed to get out a respectful nod, before being dragged by Rikku, who looked slightly terrified.

Before he knew it, Tidus was being dragged down several metallic corridors, illuminated with only simple, low-level lighting. A guard was standing outside a room, gesturing inside, wearing a big grin.

"Rao Rikku, Oui'na cmaabehk fedr res duhekrd." He cackled, which reminded Tidus of the perverted old men he used to see wandering around Zanarkand staring lecherously at the young girls that walked around the city. "Dno hud du kad bnakhyhd!" He walked off, still cackling crazily.

"Cdibet umt yccruma!" Rikku's face had gone bright red with embarrassment. Whatever the old man had said hadn't sat well with the young girl. Before he could ask what had happened, he had been dragged into the room. As he regained his balance, he noticed two single beds inside a simple room, lit again only by the low-level lighting on the floors, like the type you would find on an airship in Zanarkand.

"I hate the men on this stupid ship!" Rikku kicked one of the beds in frustration. All it earned her was a painful toe. Falling on her bed, she massaged her foot and glared up at the ceiling. To him, she looked even cuter when she was mad, scrunching up her nose and looking all adorable. Shaking his head with a smile, he mentally noted to ask Rikku to teach him some of her language as he wandered over to his bed and lay on top of it. Instead, the two of them just sat there in silence, the hum of the ship filling the awkward silence. Whatever the old man had said to her seemed to have really made her react to it. He turned over to his side to get a better look at her. He was surprised to see her looking intently at him, as though she was trying to figure something out, traces of the blush still visible on her face.

"What is it?" He asked, surprised by the intensity of the glare. She scrunched up her nose again, and just kept on glaring at him. Eventually, she swallowed and spoke up.

"Tidus... You said you remember everything about Zanarkand... right?" Her eyes were piercing, as though she was trying to suck the answers out of his brain.

"I do, yes. Right up until Sin swallowed up me and my friend." He scanned her body language a little closer. She seems to be nervous, fidgeting slightly. She seemed to find it hard keeping eye contact for more then a few seconds too.

"Well then... did you... have a g-girlfriend back home?" Her question surprised him a little. She seemed very curious suddenly.

"Well, at that point, no. I was a single man when Sin attacked." He rolled onto his back again, staring at the ceiling. Some of his old girlfriends he actually liked as friends still, and now they were gone too.

"What do you mean, 'at that point'? So you have had a girlfriend before, right?" Her voice sounded a little more accusing this time. He glanced back at her to find she had her head on her arms, green-spiraled eyes glaring at him.

"I've had... a few..." He turned away from her, realising that she might not be the type of girl who appreciates hearing stories of how many girlfriends a guy had before. He seemed to have hit the nail on the head when he felt a pillow collide with the side of his head. Rikku had jumped out of her bed with the pillow, repeatedly clobbering him with it.

"You jerk! Is one not enough!?"

"It was one at a time! I didn't have them all at once! And why are you so mad?"

"It doesn't matter! Didn't you really love any of them?" She looked at him, waiting for an answer. Turning his eyes away, he nodded.

"I loved them all. All in a different way. But Zanarkand wasn't going to be the place that I found the one girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I loved that city, but it was full with an electric, dirty, provocative lifestyle. It wasn't a city of innocence, not in the slightest."

"So what your saying is, you've slept with a bunch of girls, but none of them really took your fancy." Rikku poked him in the cheek. Tidus looked at her, annoyed.

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that I haven't found the girl I've truly loved yet. I feel cheesy now, why are you doing this to me?"

"Hmm..." Her fidgeting resumed. "I'm not sure..." She kept glancing up at him and then looking back down at the floor.

"Well, you're stuck with me for a while, so you've got plenty of time to figure it out." He yawned as he lay flat on the bed. "I'm so tired, so I'm gonna get some sleep. Goodnight, Rikku." Shutting his eyes, he didn't see the indignant expression Rikku wore on her face.

"Stupid idiot..." She stood there, watching his chest rise and fall. Her eyes travelled up to his face, resting on his lips. Strange thoughts started to bounce through her mind, and before she knew it, she had leapt back into bed, face blushing furiously.

"I've known this guy for less than a day. What is wrong with me?" She hid her head under the pillow. "Okay, sure. He's miles better then the old farts on this ship, but still... Why do I feel like we..."

She stayed still, willing herself not to think any strange thoughts. She didn't know how long had passed, but it seemed like an eternity. A gentle snore began to drift to her from Tidus's direction, reminding her of the boys presence. She couldn't keep her mind away from him, and her heartbeat was going faster than a Chocobo on performance-enhancement drugs. A few more moments passed, and before she knew it, she had folded her covers away from her face. Kneeling on the floor, she slowly crept her way over to his bed. Without a sound, she was close enough to his face to see every minuscule detail. She was sure he could hear her chest thumping.

Braving herself to move a little closer, she could feel him breathing on her cheek. She felt extremely hot, and strange, the whole sensation was completely new to her.

"What are you... doing to me..." Leaning in closer, she gently placed her lips over his. Her adrenaline sky-rocketed, her mind was in spirals, what she was feeling was indescribable. She let it last for as long as she could, before finally breaking apart.

"You big dummie..." She smiled at him. "He's going to get a surprise in the morning." She thought to herself naughtily as she climbed into the bed with him, hugging him tightly. He was warm, so very warm. To her, his scent reminded her of the beautiful beaches of Besaid. Before she knew it, she was dreaming happily, a smile etched over her face.


	4. The Isle of Besaid

'Bittersweet'

Chapter 4: The Isle of Besaid

The sun shone brightly through the small gap in the window, resting it's light on Tidus's sleeping face. Lying her head on his chest, Rikku was also sound asleep, a small smile etched on her face. The gentle swaying of the ship served to relax the two even more, until the ship lurched from a slightly unusual swell in the ocean.

Waking up with a start, Tidus immediately sensed something was wrong. Rikku's blond hair was tickling his nose, and he knew she shouldn't be that close to him unless she was sharing the bed with him.

"You have actually got to be kidding me..." He looked down at the sleeping Al-Bhed girl. She looked so content, it was going to kill him to wake her up. He was more worried about what the rest of the crew on the ship would do to him if he left her like this though. Just as he was wondering what he should do with her, the unconscious girl wrapped an arm around his neck, her chest squeezing into him tighter. It was then the battle with his hormones began.

"She's cute. Much cuter then what I realised." He subconsciously began stroking her hair, earning him a contented purr-like sound from the sleeping girl. It wasn't long before his brain kicked in, telling him this was not a good time for this.

"Think, genius..." He gently poked her cheek. "Rikku, it's time to get up." No response came. She seemed to him to be a pretty deep sleeper. He moved a hand to her sides, and gently began tickling her. It seemed to work better as the girl started to squirm and bury her face into his torso.

"No... Just five more minutes..." She murmured to him. He didn't really have five minutes, as the guards could come knocking any moment. He continued his assault, with Rikku's moans eventually turning into giggles.

"Why are you so comfortable... ugh, let me enjoy this, please!" She began beating his chest with her fists lightheartedly.

"Your friends will kill me if they find us like this." He intensified his tickling, with Rikku now gasping with laughter. "Please wake up, for me?" Grudgingly, the girl pulled herself up, fluffy-eyed whilst yawning. It was a pretty sight to watch.

"I guess good things can't last forever." She said as she stretched out. A playful grin appeared on her face. "So did you enjoy your little present?"

"It was... unexpected." He grinned awkwardly. "Last time I checked, your bed was there." He pointed his thumb to her bed. She nodded in agreement.

"Yup. Let's just chalk this one up to sleepwalking, shall we?" Her tone clearly said it was something entirely different, but he chose not to argue with his host. If he could figure out how to lock the door, he was definitely going to enjoy this more if the opportunity arose again.

Just as Rikku had got off his bed, they heard a knock at the door. The boss with the mohawk walked in, with what looked like an angry glare on his face.

"Rikku, fa ryja dnuipma. Uin cahcunc yna belgehk ib y cdnyhka tecdinpyhla hud vyn vnus rana." He walked towards Rikku slowly, his hands in his pockets. "Ed sekrd pa Sin..."

"Oh crap..." Rikku gasped in a frightened surprise. His lack of knowledge was frustrating Tidus at the moment, and he turned to Rikku for a translation.

"He said Sin might not be far from here..." He could see her shaking. She was scared. The man turned back to the door, walking slowly the way he came.

"Fa'na bnabynehk vun dra funcd. Knyp ouin kayn yht saad sa uh dra pnetka. Yht pnehk res fedr oui." Slamming the metal door behind him, Rikku slumped to her knees. Her usual bubbly, excited demeanour had all but vanished.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up. Tidus stood with a smile, gently squeezing her shoulder.

"We're gonna be okay. I promise."

* * *

><p>Guards were falling over themselves in the bridge. It would've almost been funny to watch had the situation not been so serious. The man in the mohawk had finally been given the name of 'Brother', as Rikku explained some of the sitaution as best she could as they walked towards the bridge.<p>

"We call him Brother. He prefers it over his real name, and won't tell a soul what it is. He's forced me to keep it a secret too."

"Why does he hate it that much?" Tidus scratched his head, confused. "And you'd never tell me, ever?"

Smiling, Rikku nodded. "He's an idiot, but he is my big brother after all. I don't think his name is that bad to be honest, but maybe someday he'll tell you himself."

"I doubt that somehow."

An alarm flashed over the bridge. Al-Bhed was blared over the speakers as a technician read his information from a readout.

"Fa ryja y jeciym uh Sin. Pyddma cdydeuhc level 1! Cad asankahlo luinca du Besaid Ecmyht!" The metallic echo reverberated around deck as something like a giant explosion of water exploded from the distance. The wave was steadily getting closer as the ship lurched in a western direction on an evasion course.

"Besaid is pretty close... If the thrusters are at max, we have a shot..." Rikku's whole body was trembling. Gritting her teeth, she focused on what the equipment around her was trying to tell her. Sin's approximate position was roughly seven miles ahead. Besaid was four and a half, with the beachfront already in visual sight. They could make it.

Another alarm sounded, a faster one that sounded more frantic.

"Ahanko naytehk tadaldat vnus Sin! Ra'c myihlrehk yh yddylg, ajanouha pnyla!" Everybody suddenly scrambled for something to hold on or threw themselves to the ground.

"Hit the deck!" Rikku dragged Tidus onto the ground. A flash of bright, red light shot past the ships bridge windows, the shockwave shattering them all, throwing everything into chaos inside. Small machines overloaded and blew up, the explosions sending glass shooting across the room. Tidus could hear Rikku screaming under his arm he threw over to protect her. A sliver of blood ran down his cheek from a jagged fragment of glass. His vision was hazy and he could smell, even taste the smoke.

"Cdydic nabund!" Brother stood up gingerly, eyes focused on the beast coming closer to the ship. It looked a hell lot closer then before all of a sudden.

"Jeciym cahcunc dasbunynemo uvvmeha. Uin luinca ryc paah vunlavimmo ytzicdat vevdaah taknaac uvv luinca. Acdesydat desa uv ynnejym ec dfamja sehidac." The technician looked away from his monitor, sweating heavily. Tidus swore that if he ever made it out of the situation alive, he would study Al-Bhed religiously. All he could use were his eyes and ears on the beast known as 'Sin'.

An explosion rocketed on to the side of the wave, apparently fired from the island they were heading to. Tidus squinted as best he could, just about making vague shapes that looked like cannons. Another technician screamed at Brother, with something like relief in his voice. Rikku looked back and forth from an argument her brother and the crew seemed to be having.

"What's going on?" Tidus looked at the girl, frustrated.

"It's the Crusaders..." She looked half-happy, half-terrified. "They're distracting Sin long enough for us to get onto the shore. But..." She glanced quickly at the sole remaining visual monitor, which had zoomed in onto the group of people known as the Crusaders. Tidus could see uniformed men igniting cannons and casting spells of protection.

"I don't know how long they'll be able to hold out... " As soon as she finished, she sucked in a breath. Sin seemed to be charging energy, and from the size of the sphere that seemed to be floating above him, they wouldn't stand a chance.  
>Shouting loudly, Brother pointed in Sin's direction.<p>

"VENA!"

Two small explosions rocketed from the sides of the ship. Tidus watched as two large missiles launched from the water into the sky. They arched into the air, and after a brief flight, collided with Sin, completely enveloping the beast in a fiery explosion.

"Where the hell did we get those!?" Rikku looked in disbelief, quickly glancing a Brother in horror. "Dad's going to be royally pissed..."

Whilst waiting for the smoke to dissipate, the ship made an unexpected landing on the shoreline. With everybody's attention focused on Sin, nobody saw the abrupt stop coming, throwing everybody forward. Banging his head onto a wall violently, Tidus quickly had time to see Rikku screaming at him, before he passed out. He was glad he had been able to stop Rikku getting hurt.

* * *

><p>His head was in agony, like somebody was constantly banging it together with a Blitzball. Was he hungover? No, he didn't feel the nausea you'd expect with a hangover. He felt hungry, more than ill. Opening his eyes slightly, he winced at the light in the room. He seemed to be in a large, colourful tent of some sort. Looking around slowly, he could see somebody resting on his bed.<br>Blinking a few times, he began to recognise the blond hair and orange feather ear accessories. Smiling to himself, he gently patted Rikku on the head, stroking her hair gently. With a small grunt, Rikku opened her eyes blearily.

"Breakfast already?" She yawned, stretching herself out. Looking towards him slowly, her expression quickly changed into worry.

"Tidus! You're awake!" She immediately stood up, getting as close to him as was possible without physically touching him. "Are you okay? How's your head?"

"It's sore, but I think my brain's gonna be okay. How are you?"

"I'm okay, thanks to you..." A small blush attacked her face then, something he didn't miss.

"Whew, that's good. So where are we?" Rikku sat back down, crossing her legs. He noted that she wasn't wearing her boots, and her long, slender legs seemed a little sweaty in the dim light.

"We landed on the Isle of Besaid. The ship was pretty much totalled on entry, most of the equipment was destroyed. And Sin completely disappeared afterwards." She suddenly looked thoughtful. "It was strange, it was like he just vanished as soon as we got you and the injured off the ship. Oh yeah, that reminds me..." She looked at the entrance of the tent. "It's probably too late now, but we should try and thank her tomorrow too..."

"Who?" He looked at the girl confused. Turning round to him, she grinned.

"The one who healed your wounds, as well as my beautiful cousin. The summoner of this island, and her name is Yuna." She puffed out her chest proudly. "The daughter of the late Summoner Braska, my uncle, who defeated Sin ten years ago, just before the previous Calm."

There was a number of questions that sprung up inside his head after Rikku explained, but before he could get a chance to ask any of them, Rikku drew in closer again.

"My cousin is important to me, but she's also about your age, is gentle, kind and a lovely person. If I catch you staring lechrously at her, I may have no choice but to kill you, understand?" A playful growl echoed on her lips, which presented a beautiful opportunity to him.

"Is that out of jealousy that I might fall in love with this Yuna or something else?" He wore a sly grin as Rikku suddenly became flustered, drawing back quickly.

"No! I just don't want the playboy to be adding another girl to his growing list of used playthings, especially my Yunie!"

"I'm actually really looking forward to seeing this girl tomorrow." He said, dodging a beating from an indignant Rikku.


	5. The Summoner Yuna

So my uni exams are finally out of the way, which leaves the Christmas holidays! Hopefully can work some more on fanfiction and all my other deprioritised projects I've been doing lately, but who knows?

* * *

><p>'Bittersweet'<p>

Chapter 5: The Summoner Yuna

Stretching his arms as he walked towards the giant building Rikku had told him was a temple, he began to wonder if he should've stayed in bed. Rikku had woken him up in a panic, telling him that the summoner had been inside the temple for over a day. Apparently this was a bad thing, so the two of them were heading back to the temple to find out more. He was getting a bad feeling that this would be the start of something that would annoy him for a long time to come.

"So he's finally awake?" A tall man walked towards the two of them. He wore slightly faded yellow Blitzball fatigues and a bluey-white bandanna on his fiery, orange hair, which finished in a long flick pointing towards the sky. Rikku smiled at the man, and bowed low to him.

"He is, all thanks to you Wakka." Roughly pushing him into a bow, Tidus suddenly found himself looking at the floor. He wondered if they were being polite to the chief of the village or something along the lines. The man known as Wakka laughed heartily.

"What's that, there's no need to be so nice ya? Yuna did most of the work." He grabbed both of their shoulders lightly as he pulled them back to their feet. "I'm going to go speak with the priests in a second, but I don't know how long we can leave Yuna in there. A day is a long time, and those trails are a pain in the ass. In the meantime though, don't you two go wandering off in there without either Lulu or me, got it?" The two teenagers nodded, prompting Wakka to run off.

"Looks like we can't do much then..." Rikku looked a little more upset then she had before, something which didn't escape his usually disengaged brain. Looking towards the temple, he made a decision. Grabbing Rikku's hand, he dragged her towards it.

"Woah, woah, woah! We can't go in there, even if Wakka said it was okay!" Rikku pulled against his hand. "You don't know the prayer that the Yevonites use, and on top of that, the temples don't like us Al Bhed very much."

"Prayer?"

"Yes, the prayer of Yevon." Rikku succeeded in working her hand free of his grasp. Taking his own hand in hers, she dragged him round to the back of the temple, where it faced an amazing view of the ocean. Letting go, she turned round to face him. "This is the prayer of Yevon."  
>She placed one leg slightly further back then the other, whist simultaneously drawing her arms into a cross in front of her chest, arching them in a curve above her head, before finishing with one hand on top of the other with a gap in the middle, as though she was holding a small ball in her hands.<p>

"Don't forget it, or the Yevonites will go mental. Now you try." It wasn't completely unfamiliar to Tidus. Any Blitzball player would know that prayer. It was the sign that was used before a match, as a way of respect to the other team.

"I guess that'll be fine. Remember, don't forget it!" Tidus nodded. He really didn't want to get into any more trouble. Something else was eating at him though.

"So you said that Yevon doesn't like the Al Bhed. Why?" Rikku suddenly averted her eyes. It looked like a topic of conversation she wasn't too fond of, but he didn't want to be anymore clueless then he already was.

"The teachings of Yevon state that the use of machina is bad, and forbids it's followers from using it. According to Yevon, it was machina that brought about Sin, and it's use invites even more destruction. Because the Al Bhed don't follow Yevon, we use machina a lot. We believe that machina can help a lot in everyday life, and that with it's help, we may be able to stop Sin one day. Obviously there's more to it then that, but that's the general idea."

He thought it through in his mind. It sounded similar to a lot of other religious conflicts he had heard in the past. He guessed that the Al Bhed were a people more then a religion, but it was still discrimination from the bigger power in a way. It was the kind of thing that would annoy him badly, discrimination because of something like race or belief.

"Okay, so I get that. But so long as it's helping your cousin, we should do whatever we can to help, right?" Rikku looked a little reluctant, but agreed anyway.

"I'm sure a little poking around wouldn't hurt to find out more information." He was hiding his true intention, simply because she probably wouldn't let him do it. Taking her right up to the temple doors, he pushed them open, making sure Wakka wasn't watching them. As they walked in, Rikku kept her eyes firmly fixated on the floor, desperately trying to avoid looking at any of the other people praying inside the temple.  
>The inside was a little smaller then he imagined it would be, but then there was plenty of objects inside to take up the space. A statue of a powerful looking men stared at him from one side of a steep looking staircase.<p>

"Who's that?" Tidus whispered. Rikku quickly glanced up to see what he was talking about.

"That's the statue of High Summoner Braska and my uncle. I'm surprised Besaid finally got theirs."

"How famous is he to have a statue like that?" Tidus wondered to himself as they continued looking around. Quickly identifying a temple priest who might be able to help them out, Tidus quickly strode towards him, with Rikku trying to hide behind him. "Excuse me, but I was wondering what's the situation was with the summoner? Is she okay?"

"There has yet to be any word on how Lady Yuna is doing." The priest shook his head sadly. "She began the trials around this time yesterday, amidst much celebration. It hasn't been the first time a summoner has taken a long time to complete the trials and perform a successful summoning, or maybe even be unable to become a full-fledged summoner at all. But it is worrying. There is much spiritual energy within the chambers ahead, and she may be in danger."

Both Rikku and Tidus were taken by surprise. He hadn't been sure if the trails were dangerous or not, but this only further prompted him to take more action. If nobody else was going in to find out if Yuna was okay, he wasn't about to sit on his ass doing nothing, especially if she had healed him before taking on these trials.

"Is nobody going to go in there and see if she's okay?" Rikku said indignantly behind him, voicing his thoughts.

"Unfortunately, it is against the sacred traditions for anyone other then a summoner to enter the Chamber of the Fayth and for her guardians to wait in the foyer of the Cloister of Trials. Even if we did go in there, we still would not be able to enter the sacred chamber." This only seemed to anger Tidus more, who quickly grabbed Rikku's hand, running up the stairs towards the entrance.

"Well I'm going in! She might die if we leave her in there!" Opening the doors whilst dragging an almost hysterical Rikku in the other, he sprinted straight through. The temple priest wore a horrified expression on his face.

"Quickly, somebody must call Wakka! He's the only other guardian who can go into the Cloister and retrieve him!"

~_ Cloister of Trials _~

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." He looked around the small room he was in, but all he could see was a strange, glowing glyph on the wall in front of him. On an adjacent wall, there was a bunch of glowing runes that Rikku was studying.

"Gee, thanks Tidus. Not only have we broken a sacred tradition upholded for at least a thousand years, we're now lost and at the mercy of temple priests." She sounded slightly annoyed at him, but he couldn't really blame her. He just grabbed onto her hand without thinking about it, but if they found out he had dragged an Al Bhed girl into the sacred chamber, he'd more in so much more trouble then if he had gone in by himself.

"Ah well, not much we can do now except try and figure this thing out, right?" Tidus walked up towards the glowing green glyph on the opposite wall. "I wonder what this does..." As he reached out a hand to try and touch it, Rikku sighed to herself.

"Well, at least with two brains, we can probably make it to the Chamber of the Fayth quicker then Yuna did." She said to no one in particular. The glyph glowed brighter as Tidus stood next to it, suddenly glowing on all four points on what reminded him of a compass or a clock. He touched the centre of the glyph, and watched as the runes Rikku was studying suddenly morphed into another strange, similar looking glyph. She turned around to face him.

"What did you do?"

"I dunno." He shrugged. Walking towards the other glyph, he touched it just like he had with the other one. A glow appeared to react to his touch, pointing up. Suddenly, the wall opened up, revealing a passageway. Rikku hung her head, looking exasperated.

"This is going to be long and painful."

After fifteen minutes of wandering around, arguing over destruction spheres and Besaid spheres and all the other confusing aspects of the trials, including the incident where Tidus blew up a wall with a destruction sphere, only to be rewarded with a strange, staff like weapon for his trouble, they finally came to what looked like the end of the trials. Pushing a pedestal towards the end of the small hallway, it clicked into place in the middle of a small platform.

"Whew... finally, we're done..." He wiped some sweat off his brow. "I think..."

"Not yet." A familiar voice that wasn't Rikku echoed behind him. Turning around, he saw Wakka standing there, strangely not as angry looking as he'd have expected. Walking towards the two of them, Rikku quickly began stuttering excuses.

"I'm sorry Wakka! It's this idiots fault! He couldn't sit tight to wait until Yuna was finished!"

"It's okay." Wakka patted her shoulder. "And I'm surprised you two finished so fast. Others have been confused for way longer then this."

"So is that why Yuna is taking so long?" Tidus chipped in. Shaking his head, Wakka continued his explanation as the platform they were standing on began to move down to the lower level.

"The reason will be because she's still praying to the Fayth. To become a full-fledged summoner takes longer then simply getting an Aeon, so that must be why it's taking this long. To be honest, I'm not too surprised, ya?" Tidus looked at Rikku for some sort if an explanation on Aeons and Fayths, but she simply shook her head and mouthed, "I'll tell you later.".Walking down another hallway, Wakka suddenly looked very worried.

"Lu is going to kill me..."

They continued until they entered a wide chamber, which Tidus guessed was the foyer, and the locked gateway ahead was the Chamber of the Fayth. Two other people were inside the room. One was a sour-faced looking woman, with long, braided black hair and red eyes. She wore a long black dress, seemingly made of a corset, a lot of belts and a silky yet leathery material.  
>The other person wasn't human, but a tall, furry creature that looked like some sort of strange lion had dived head first into a pool of blue paint. He had a small, broken horn on his head, making Tidus think of unicorns.<p>

"What do we have here?" The woman stood up, striding towards Wakka who seemed to cringe with every incoming footfall. "Didn't think we'd be able to handle this by ourselves?" It was then Tidus decided to intervene before Wakka met his fate.

"How's the summoner doing? Is she okay?" The woman looked at him, then at Rikku with a small gasp of surprise. Rounding on Wakka, she looked even madder then before.

"What do you think you're doing, bringing someone like her into a place like this!?" She pointed accusingly at Rikku, who sighed and stopped trying to hide behind Tidus. Wakka looked at Rikku confused.

"What do you mean, someone like..." Taking a closer look, he came to a sudden realisation. "How the hell did I not see that before?" The situation was defused by a large, grating sound. The gate that separated the Chamber of the Fayth with the foyer was starting to open.  
>After an agonising wait, Tidus slowly began to see a figure of a woman standing behind the door. As it was revealed to him, she wore a beautiful blue kimono, with flowery hibiscus patterns decorating it. The top half was a silky white, with the straps of her bra showing through as jet-black in colour. She had shoulder length brown hair, and had blue and green heterochromatic eyes. She was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on. He could instantly see why Rikku was trying to warn him to stay away from her.<p>

As the gate opened, she stumbled out of the chamber, sweating profusely. She took one step down the staircase, before losing her balance. Before anybody had the chance to react, the strange, blue creature had caught her, steadying her into an upright position, growling in a similar fashion to a lion. After nodding at him, she turned to face the others in the foyer, smiling.

"I've done it! I have become... a summoner!"


End file.
